musings by the electronics design, fabrication and assembly industry's best minds

Main menu

Post navigation

Make in India?

A colleague asks whether companies are looking at India as a country they can source electronics goods.

Good question. I would say that right now it’s not high on the list. It has a long way to go to develop the infrastructure and mass of supply chain companies dedicated to electronics (component manufacturers, laminate suppliers, chemistry suppliers, etc.).

But … the bloom is way, way off the rose in China. China is less attractive from a labor rate perspective, and coupled with the tariffs, firms were already looking at alternatives even prior to Covid. See below for the year-over-year changes in electronics imports to the US from certain nations:

US electronics imports from selected nations, 2017-19

India’s electronics imports to the US grew 20%+ year-over-year in back-to-back years. Granted, it was starting from a low base: imports in 2016 (the base year) were just $754 million, and so even with the increase the total is just over $1.1 billion. Vietnam, another big gainer, is at now at $22.7 billion. China, even with the dip in 2019, was at $170 billion.

I do think US companies will to a greater degree be looking at nations outside China as potential manufacturing centers. India’s massive population continues to make it attractive of course. Now it needs to attract a few more assembly companies, which in turn will drive the suppliers to locate there.

Related

About Mike

Mike Buetow is editor-in-chief of Circuits Assembly magazine, the leading publication for electronics manufacturing, and PCD&F, the leading publication for printed circuit design and fabrication. He is also vice president and editorial director of UP Media Group, for which he oversees all editorial and production aspects. He has more than 20 years' experience in the electronics industry, including six years at IPC, an electronics trade association, at which he was a technical projects manager and communications director. He has also held editorial positions at SMT Magazine, community newspapers and in book publishing. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois.
Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikebuetow